Table 1.
Socio-demographic, medical, nutrition and household characteristics of participating children
| Characteristics | Post-SAM cases (n = 93) | Community controls (n = 95) | p value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | Median (IQR) | n (%) | Median (IQR) | ||
| Socio-demographic characteristics | |||||
| Female | 39 (41.9) | 41 (43.2) | 0.865 | ||
| Age (months) | 15 (6; 48) | 14 (7; 48) | 0.309 | ||
| Medical history | |||||
| Ever immunised | 77 (82.8) | 80 (84.2) | 0.794 | ||
| Presence of BCG scar | 54 (58.1) | 65 (68.4) | 0.326 | ||
| Recent vitamin A supplementation | 86 (92.5) | 87 (91.6) | 0.821 | ||
| Recent deworming | 52 (55.9) | 44 (46.3) | 0.188 | ||
| Utilises insecticide treated bed net | 47 (50.5) | 53 (55.8) | 0.767 | ||
| Nutrition status | |||||
| Mid upper arm circumference (mm) | 122 (118; 131) | 135 (130; 143) | < 0.001 | ||
| Weight-for-age Z-scorea | − 2.8 (− 3.6; − 2.2) | − 1.1 (− 1.8; − 0.5) | < 0.001 | ||
| Height-for-age Z-scorea | − 3.6 (− 4.6; − 2.6) | − 1.4 (− 2.4; -0.7) | < 0.001 | ||
| Weight-for-height Z-scorea | − 1.0 (− 1.9; − 0.4) | − 0.5 (− 1.1; 0.2) | < 0.001 | ||
| % severe stuntinga | 60 (65.2) | 17 (18.1) | < 0.001 | ||
| Caregivers information | |||||
| Both parents alive | 79 (85.9) | 92 (96.8) | 0.004 | ||
| Mother as principal caregiver | 89 (95.7) | 93 (97.9) | 0.442 | ||
| Caregiver ever attended school | 17 (18.3) | 22 (23.2) | 0.410 | ||
| Principal caregiver age (years) | 26 (13; 60) | 25 (18; 55) | 0.034 | ||
| Caregiver MUAC (mm) | 222 (182; 297) | 229 (122; 267) | |||
| Infant and child feeding indexb | 0.074 | ||||
| Lowest category | 2 (2.1) | 4 (4.2) | |||
| Middle category | 42 (45.2) | 28 (29.5) | |||
| Highest category | 49 (52.7) | 63 (66.3) | |||
| Household characteristics | |||||
| Male headed household | 88 (95.6) | 92 (96.8) | 0.668 | ||
| Household head attended school | 30 (32.3) | 34 (36.2) | 0.573 | ||
| Household size | 6 (2–22) | 5 (2–12) | 0.081 | ||
| Number children below 5 years | 2 (1–2) | 1 (1–2) | 0.020 | ||
| Food secure | 50 (56.2) | 77 (82.8) | 0.001 | ||
| WASH practices category | 0.789 | ||||
| Good WASH indexc | 55 (59.1) | 58 (61.0) | |||
| Poor WASH index | 38 (40.9) | 37 (39.0) | |||
| Wealth quartiles distributiond | n = 88 | n = 89 | 0.806 | ||
| First | 25 (28.4) | 21 (23.6) | |||
| Second | 23 (26.1) | 27 (30.3) | |||
| Third | 19 (21.6) | 22 (24.7) | |||
| Fourth | 21 (23.9) | 19 (21.3) | |||
SAM severe acute malnutrition, MUAC mid upper arm circumference, IQR interquartile range, WASH water, sanitation and hygiene
aUsing 2006 world Health organisation multicentre child growth references
bBased on 24 h recall of breastfeeding, dietary diversity and meal frequency
cSummarised as recommended by WHO and UNICEF methodology [62]
dGenerated using principal component analysis as described in [61]